TONY GWYNN. NO DOUBT. C'MON WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?! CAL RIPKEN!? I would NOT vote for him the first year. In fact, I don't know why in the world sports writers were saying he could be the first player in the Hall with a uniamous vote.

He was a good player with a great record. Let me emphasize the important word in that last sentence. He was a good player with *A* great record. Yes. ONE record. That record was impressive. But c'mon. He is a lifetime .276 hitter. His 3184 hits are impressive being 14th on the all-time hit list, but he also played the 3rd most games.

Oh, here's a great record he holds. He's the all-time career leader for most grounded into double plays. Now there's a hitter for you. The guy grounded into the most double plays. Ever. That's who i want on my all-star team. A guy that comes up with a runner on first and he's the all-time ground into double play leader.

Let me repeat that in case you didn't catch it. Cal Ripken. "Mr. Look at me with my consecutive streak record." "Mr. Oh i'm so shiny and nice." THAT cal ripken. Grounded into the MOST double plays. EVER.

And people want to put him into the same class as the career .338 Tony Gwynn? Please.

Some anagrams for CAL RIPKEN:
LIKEN CRAP
ELK IN CRAP

yes. i would vote for tony gwynn as well for all things that spud mentioned. Thanks for those stats. Now i don't have to research them. :-)

the reason i asked is that ripken received more votes than gwynn. Gwynn is clearly the superior player.

Ripken is the media darling. The reporters liked to go "oh cal ripken! you gave me a big news story in 1995. I didn't know what else to write about in 1995, and you were always there for me with your consecutive game streak."

I bought the Chief Wahoo Indians hat around the same time (1992ish) when everything PC was the rage. I loved how Chief Wahoo went agains the PC crowd.

I still wear that hat sometimes. If i go to a Sox game, I'll wear my Chief Wahoo hat. I don't like wearing my Cubs hat to Sox games because I don't like taking beer showers.

Oh, and by the way, I would probably vote for Gwynn ahead of Ripken as well.

You really can't argue too much with Ripken going in on the first ballott though. You have to look at his batting average, hits, and powere numbers in relation to other shortstops. At his position, his numbers were very good compared to his peers.

That said, I do think the consecutive starts record played a huge part in him getting the number of votes that he got. He probably would have gotten in on the first ballott anyway, but the streak got him a ton of extra votes.

Do they make a doubleplay hat? I would surely get that for any ripken doe-doe fan out there.

It's not exactly the golden age of sports Mascots and logos. Seems like a real lack of creativity and originality nowadays. The most recent MLB teams are what the Diamondbacks and the DevilRays. Nothing interesting about those. They lack personality.

As for the NFL, you've got the Houston Texans, the Carolina Panthers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Again, rather boring.

It would be interesting if the team names or mascots had to reflect the city they played in a la the Milwaukee Brewers, the Green Bay Packers, or even the Minnesota Twins.

While I probably would have voted for Gwynn over Ripken, I think Spudart's criticism of Ripken is a bit harsh. Keep in mind that he won two MVP awards, and was an All-Star 19 times. That's a lot of times. I think it's safe to assume that he was the dominant shortstop in the A.L. during his career.

There are stats, stats, and more stats, both positive and negative, but I won't even dip into the shallow end of all of that stuff.

Ripken is definitely the "media darling" and incredibly popular with the fans. I'm not surprised he's in ... but I also don't believe he shouldn't be in.

Yeah, I am too harsh on Cal Ripken. But the thing is that the media is so overwhelming kissy kissy over him, I feel the need for some balance.

Now I do think that Cal deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I DON'T think he deserves to be the ONLY unianimous first year choice ever. That's just ridiculous. Now does he deserve to get in the first year? I don't know. I wouldn't vote for him the first year, but that's only because I know all the other 537 writers will.

I will agree and say that I think it is ridiculous that he is the first player to get in his first year and with a unanimous vote, that's a little much.

You make a good point about mascots having to actually be something, Spud. I will therefore refine my rules for creating a mascot to include it needing to have something to do with the city in which the team plays, and also that the mascot actually be something tangible and/or useable as a mascot.

Although, having a pair of colored socks as your mascot seems a little strange as well. What's next, the Pittsburgh Pants, the Baltimore Boxer-Shorts, The Toronto T-Shirts...

worst team name ever: UTAH JAZZ

at least ripken has a better pose on his rookie card.

I don't like the Utah Jazz either, but I'm pretty sure that name was a carry-over from when the team used to be the New Orleans Jazz. At least that makes some sense due to the strong Jazz heritage in New Orleans. The team should have been forced to come up with a new name when it moved to Utah.

when the team moved from new orleans to utah, they kept the name which was completely idioitic. I could never figure out why they kept the name.

It'd be like calling the Tennessee Titans, the Tennessee Oilers. Makes no sense.

you guys are dumb. check the stats. ripken was consistent all 21 years hitting, while gwynn on the other hand went from batting in the low 300s from his late 20s to early 30s, but he magically went from 311 at age 33, to 330, then 340, then 350, at age 37. steroids dudes.